


if you're wondering if i still love you (after so much time has passed)

by Resacon1990



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jack and Gabe raises Jesse, M/M, and Jesse won’t let them forget it, but it’s there - Freeform, lots of feelings, only a little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 14:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17448536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resacon1990/pseuds/Resacon1990
Summary: Jack can't sleep.No matter how many pills he takes or sheep he counts or breaths he draws in, the image of Gabe’s heartbroken face as Jack had just walked away won’t leave his thoughts.





	if you're wondering if i still love you (after so much time has passed)

Jack can’t sleep.

And no, it’s not that Jack doesn’t want to sleep because  _every_  muscle and bone in his body is screaming for him to just close his eyes and sleep already. To take the damn opportunity that’s been presented to him. Too many years on the frontline of the Crisis taught him to take sleep whenever he can, and the years as a vigilante-enforced that.

But he can’t. He just can’t, and he blames all of it on the fact that he can’t forget the fact that, somewhere in this shitty Overwatch base, is Gabriel fucking Reyes.

As of two days ago, moments after Gabe dropped his shotguns in surrender and told them all the sordid story of his life after the Switzerland Explosion, of years undercover and years of waiting for the right damn time to strike on Talon, of the realisation that he doesn’t want to be alone anymore, that maybe going back to Overwatch might be the way to go, that he just wants to go home, since  _then_? Jack hasn’t been able to sleep a damn blink despite trying  _everything_  that he can.

He just still can’t wrap his damn head around it, and so he’s stuck here staring at the ceiling, clenching his fists over and over as he decides whether he wants to punch or kiss the stupid stupid man who’s walked back into his life with all the drama and gusto that he’s always had.

No matter how many pills he takes or sheep he counts or breaths he draws in, the image of Gabe’s heartbroken face as Jack had just walked away won’t leave his thoughts, and, for the umpteenth time, Jack slams his fist into his mattress before rolling out of bed.

Ana has already been by, not saying a damn word about Gabe but still getting her point across with nothing but a look and a raised eyebrow. He knows she’s spoken to Gabe at length since he arrived, something that Reinhardt told Jack as he was trying to get enough energy out of his coffee to last him for a day. It doesn’t surprise Jack.  _Someone_  has to be the one who talks to Gabe and gets the story from him, hears his side, end up being the one to rationalise Gabe’s presence to the rest of the team so the younger members don’t straight up  _murder_  the man they’ve only ever known as Reaper.

He knows from the look on Torbjörn’s face that it should’ve been Jack doing it, not Ana.

But he can’t. He’s walked past the corridor leading to the interrogation rooms on Gibraltar, while Gabe has been in them, numerous times now. Winston bumped into him at one point and Jack  _still_  hasn’t recovered from seeing the condemning look on his face. He didn’t even think that gorilla’s had eyebrows, let alone knew how to raise them individually for  _judgement_  purposes.

The only other person that Jack seems to find solace in at the moment is with Jesse McCree. Jesse also hasn’t spoken to Gabe since he’d arrived, has avoided almost  _everyone_  else in the process. Jack’s bumped into him a few times roaming the corridors at night, something that neither judge the other on since they’re  _both_  doing it, and it seems like tonight is going to be the same.

Jack is barely out the door of his room with his jacket and boots on, contemplating going for an incredibly brisk walk outside in the snow, when he crashes straight into Jesse. It’s only because they’re so damn bulky that neither fall to the ground, both absorbing the blow, and Jesse steadies Jack with a strong hand.

“Alright, Jack?” he asks, and Jack just nods as he pulls away. Jesse’s hand drops limply to his side and Jack almost thinks he makes up the wounded look on Jesse’s face.

He hasn’t exactly been overly comfortable around the kid since he found out Jack’s identity. They’d bonded as Soldier 76 and Jesse McCree, but Jack still can’t shake the betrayal he’d seen on Jesse’s face when Zenyatta accidentally revealed Jack’s identity to the group. Damn Omnic’s and their super senses.

What had gotten Jack more though was how  _quick_  Jesse was to forgive him. Faking his death was definitely the hardest part to forgive, but Jack feels wrong knowing that Jesse can forgive him in a blink but not Gabe.

It’s another reason he can’t sleep. Damn guilt.

“Can’t sleep?” Jack asks as he brushes away his thoughts, and Jesse doesn’t meet his eyes for a moment before he huffs and leans back against the wall, his hands hanging from his belt loops.

“Kinda hard when he’s just down the way,” he mutters, and Jack nods his head in complete agreement. Jesse doesn’t look up to see it though and he waves a hand loosely in the air as he continues. “Not that I’m worried or anything. I don’t think he’s vindictive or out for blood. He wouldn’t have turned himself in if that were the case.” He rolls his shoulders and glances up, and Jack recognises the familiar look of unsureness there. “It’s just... what’re we suppose to do, Jack?”

Jack sighs as he leans against the wall behind him, making sure to still be facing Jesse. “I don’t know, kid,” he admits. “I don’t know what we should be doing.”

“Genji’s already forgiven him,” Jesse says, and that doesn’t surprise Jack at all. “I was talking to him last night and he said he’s already spoken to Gabe. Forgiven him for all the shit he’s pulled.”

“Genji’s had years in the mountain learning to do nothing but forgive, Jess,” Jack points out, and Jesse’s shoulder slump as he reaches up to rub his face. “And I’m not trying to make anything insignificant, but Genji wasn’t raised by Gabe like you were.”

“You raised me too,” Jesse adds, sounding weak, and Jack takes a step forward to clap a hand on Jesse’s shoulder.

“Yeah, and we did a hell of a job,” he says, and he smiles as Jesse ducks his gaze again. “But people deal with things in different ways, Jess. You move at your own pace, okay? Deal with this your own way.”

“And you?” Jesse asks, and that makes Jack’s free hand clench. “What about you?”

Jack glances away and drops his hand back to his side. What about him? This is a nightmare, as far as he’s concerned. Logically and unbiasedly, Gabe’s actions make sense. Infiltrating Talon from the inside to start bringing them down makes so much sense, especially with Gabe’s abilities he’d received from Moira O’Deorain’s experiments.

Like Hana said once, the fade ability alone screams bad guy.

But just because it makes sense and is rational and has worked, it doesn’t stop that overwhelming feeling of sheer betrayal that Jack feels on his shoulders like a damn weight.

“I don’t know,” he finally says, and Jesse lets out another huff. His boots click as he takes a step forward into Jack’s space and Jack almost jumps when Jesse drops his forehead to Jack’s shoulder.

“We’re fucked, aren’t we?” he murmurs, and Jack almost laughs because he’s entirely right. He reaches up to knock the stetson off Jesse’s head and buries his hand in Jesse’s hair. The kid lets out a small hum of contentment, and Jack smiles. It’s been a long time since they’ve connected like this.

All over Gabe, and that makes Jack want to groan.

Eventually, Jesse pulls away and scoops his stetson off the ground. He gives Jack a short nod as he drops it on his head and he glances briefly down the hallway before he sighs.

“You know,” he says a bit conspiratorially, “Reinhardt and Torbjörn are the ones on guard duty tonight. They’re probably already neck-deep in their chess game by now.” He shrugs as he glances at the ground. “I can’t see him yet, but maybe… I don’t know. Maybe you can?”

Jack doesn’t reply immediately. He has to think about it for a moment, process just what Jesse is recommending, before he shakes his head.

“I don’t know if I can do that, Jess,” he murmurs, more to himself than to Jesse. “What to say to him… even where to start?” He lets out a huff as he turns his gaze to Jesse. “But maybe. Thank you.”

Jesse just nods and dips his hat before he takes a few steps back and disappears down the corridor. Jack watches him go with a small ache in his chest and, once he sees the tip of the stetson vanish around the corner, he turns to make his way towards the monitor room.

The kid’s right, as when Jack gets there it’s to see Reinhardt and Torbjörn are definitely immersed in their chess game. Torbjörn is muttering something darkly as Reinhardt chortles, and Jack almost wants to step in and join them. Wants to get wrapped up in their  _joy_. But he doesn’t as he just slips past the room and starts to wander towards the holding cells. He doesn’t actually  _know_  where Gabe is being held, but if it’s going to be anywhere it  _will_  be the holding cells.

He’s right though. When he gets to the corridor with the holding cells leading off it, he sees that out of the four cells there is one that’s illuminated. Clearly occupied, and there’s no one else around that could be in it. 

Jack dallies over whether he should turn on the corridor light but leaves it after a moment. It’s not that he wants to surprise Gabe, but more that he wants to keep this whole thing on the low down. Turning the lights on will alert the monitor room of his presence, and at the moment he wants things to just be quiet. 

To just be them. 

He walks as quietly as he can towards the cell, his heart beating in his chest at an alarming rate and his head feels light and unstable. It’s a horrible feeling, but he ploughs through as he comes to a halt just outside of Gabe’s cell. 

It takes his breath away seeing the man for the first time since he surrendered. He’s got his back to Jack, looking out the small window that’s facing the ocean on the cliff, and he’s  _different_  from the last time Jack saw him. To be fair though, the last time he saw him was when he was surrendering with his Reaper get-up adorning him and his Reaper mask gripped in his hand as he’d pleaded with Jack and Ana to take him in and let him explain.

Jack had walked away, unable to deal with it, but Ana had taken him in.

She’d arranged for Angela to start giving him the antidote she’d started to create alongside the recently defected Moira, something that Jack  _also_  tries not to think about a lot. Ana does have a tendency to take in strays, always has, and she  _definitely_  has the tendency to forgive people where Jack can’t bring himself.

Clearly, the antidote is starting to work though as Jack can’t see smoke rising off of Gabe’s shoulders, something that would be more obvious due to the white shirt and fatigues he’s wearing that, undoubtedly, were rustled up from the old Gibraltar stores. Gabe’s Reaper outfit provided him with the cover to hide the smoke with its black material, but seeing only maybe the occasional tendril fall from his elbows makes Jack feel a little better.

Moira had explained to him just what Gabe’s condition was doing, the pain the man was in, the mistakes  _she_  made that lead him to that state. Hopefully, with the antidote, his condition will start improving. Jack might be struggling to talk to him or, heaven forbid,  _forgive_ him, but he’s not a monster.

“I told you, Ana,” Gabe suddenly says, his shoulders tightening as he obviously notices that someone is behind him, although he’s  _wildly_  off. “There’s not much more I can say until  Amélie  defects or Moira confirms what I’ve said, and even  _then_  there’s not much more for me to continue saying-”

He cuts himself off as he turns around and catches sight of Jack, his mouth staying open mid-sentence as his eyes widen. Jack shuffles awkwardly on his feet as he forces himself to make eye contact, his hands tightening into fists behind his back.

It’s strange to see Gabe now. The last time Jack saw him was six years ago, before the Switzerland explosion. He’s changed a lot since then. There’s new scars on his face, ones that Jack fleetingly wonders how he got. His skin has a grey tinge to it, no doubt from his wraith-like condition, and his eyes… they’re sadder, Jack thinks. A lot sadder.

“Jack,” Gabe murmurs, his eyes still focused on Jack, and Jack squeezes his hands into tighter fists as he nods his head in greeting.

“Gabriel,” he responds briskly, the words almost sour on his tongue. The last time he called Gabe by his full name was before the downfall of Overwatch, before the Italy incident, before they even got an official office in the damn Los Angeles headquarters,  _before_  Jack was promoted.

Back when they were new and fresh into the Omnic Crisis as the Overwatch team because Gabe has always been Jack’s friend, but  _Gabriel_ is just a stranger.

It’s obvious that Gabe gets just what Jack’s meaning as he recoils at the name and drops his gaze to look at the floor. The silence between them is tense and long, and Jack’s jaw is painful as he holds it tightly and tries not to turn around and run for the door.

“Guess this means you’re still mad at me then,” Gabe eventually says, and Jack lets out an involuntary scoff at the words.

“Mad?” he repeats, and Gabe looks up at him with weary eyes. “I’m not mad at you, Gabriel. I’m…” Jack trails off, unable to voice the sheer volume of feelings sitting in his chest. They’re all mixed together in one ugly ball, and he tightens his fists more and more until his bones are creaking in protest and his blunt fingernails are pressed firmly enough into his palms they almost draw blood.

What to say, what to do… it’s all lost on Jack in this one moment.

“For what it’s worth,” Gabe continues after it’s obvious Jack can’t speak. “I’m sorry, Jack. For everything. For-”

“For what?” Jack suddenly snaps, the rage sitting in his throat roaring forward as he nearly sees red. “For what, Gabriel? For betraying me? Betraying  _us_? Your family?” He pulls a hand out from behind his back and waves it’s vaguely in front of him. “For everything you’ve done to us? From attacking us, ruining our missions and putting our lives in danger? From working with  _Talon_? So much so you were in their Inner Council? For orchestrating numerous attacks,  _terrorist_  attacks that lead to the deaths of thousands of people?” He barks out a harsh laugh with no humour in it. “What’re you sorry for, Gabriel? Because there’s a never-ending  _fucking_  list.”

Gabe stares at him with that wide-eyed opened-mouth stare from before, and this time Jack can’t help but sneer at him. The anger is making his temples throb, his eyes feel like they’re  _pulsing_  with how hard he’s glaring, and his voice hitches in his throat.

“Everything you’ve done,” he continues after a moment, “ _everything_  you’ve achieved, has been the opposite of Overwatch’s own ambitions. You took everything we built, Gabriel, everything our  _family_ built, and you hazed it to the fucking ground. You destroyed everyone’s lives,  _my_  life, and now you walk in here and expect that a goddamn fucking  _apology_  will be good enough?”

“I can explain,” Gabe protests, stepping forward to press up against the bars and Jack takes an automatic step back. “Please, Jack, just give me a chance to explain-”

“There’s nothing to explain!” Jack suddenly yells, his voice hoarse with emotion. “There’s nothing you can say to explain any of the things you’ve done! You’re a fucking terrorist, and goddam eldritch monster to boot!  _Nothing_ about you screams innocent, Gabriel!  _Nothing_!”

“You’re not giving me a chance!” Gabe shouts back, shaking the damn bars between them, and there’s a raw emotion there that Jack hasn’t seen for a long time, that he  _never_  expected to see again after the Zürich explosion. “Dammit, Jack! You’ve given everyone a chance in the past, why can’t you give me one?”

“Because no one has betrayed me like you did,” Jack snarls, and he takes the steps forward to reach the bars until his face is as close to Gabe’s as he can manage. “No one stripped me bare and threw me to the fucking wolves like you did. No one else knew where to fucking hit me where it hurt like  _you_  did. You fucked me over so much, Gabriel, that trusting someone again is damn near  _impossible_.”

Gabe doesn’t reply immediately, something that doesn’t surprise Jack. There’s a blank sort of look on Gabe’s face as he watches Jack, both of their shoulders heaving as they stare at one another. Gabe’s hands are tight around the bars and Jack’s are wrapped around them just underneath. They’re not touching, Jack doesn’t think he can do that, but he can still feel the heat of the other man’s skin a hair’s breadth from his own.

“I did what I had to,” Gabe suddenly murmurs, his voice quiet as he drops his gaze from Jack’s to stare at the ground, and his hands drop from the bars to his side. “I had to survive, Jack. I had to survive and find out who did this to us. Who caused the explosion, Who ripped us all to pieces and wanted us  _dead_.” He looks up, and there’s a fiery determination there. “I didn’t cause the explosion like you think, and I  _know_  that you know that.”

“You don’t know-” Jack starts to say, but Gabe’s short laugh cuts him off.

“I know you’re in touch with Sombra,” he says, and that silences Jack quickly. “I know that you’ve been in touch with her for a long time. Who else do you think gave her the information to leak to you?” he asks, and Jack narrows his eyes. Gabe shakes his head and breaks their eye contact. “I couldn’t exactly do it myself. As you said, I was part of the Inner Council. My every move was being watched. I had to do things to remain in their confidence that I never wish I had done.”

“You killed countless people,” Jack points out angrily. “You committed  _war crimes_.”

“I did nothing more than what I’d already done as Blackwatch,” Gabe snaps. “I’m  _used_  to being the bad guy,  _used_  to being on the wrong side of the law.” He huffs and shakes his head as he crosses his arms. “But this is the first time you’ve condemned me for it.”

Jack doesn’t have a response, and he knows its because Gabe has a point. A  _huge_  fucking point, and it makes him sick to his stomach. But Gabe is right. The missions he performed under Blackwatch were signed off by Jack the majority of the time, and they  _were_  like the things that Gabe has done whilst under the Reaper mantle.

“It’s different,” Jack tries to protest, but he doesn’t even believe himself. “You were under the government mantle, not a rogue organisation-”

“To  _you_ ,” Gabe interrupts, and he waves a hand around his cell. “Which, if I’m not wrong, is hypocritical considering, according to the government we  _used_  to work for, Overwatch is considered a rogue organisation, and all members are to be punished to the full extent of the law if caught!”

“We can’t just stand by and let the world go to shit!” Jack barks right back. “No thanks to Talon,  _your_  organisation, the world is on the brink of a Second Omnic Crisis!” He shakes his head and it surprises Jack to feel his eyes sting as tears build in the corners of them, and his voice drops an octave as he looks away. “I lived through one fucking war, Gabriel. I can’t do it again.”

The silence  _rings_  between them, Jack’s words a final statement, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Gabe completely deflate where he stands. Jack can’t look at him though as he tries desperately to push the tears back. He won’t cry in front of Gabe. He won’t cry at  _all_.

He drops his hands from the bars and turns his back on Gabe, contemplating heading for the exit as he feels panic starting to build in his throat. Blind panic, a painful panic, and he’s just taking the first few steps away when Gabe calls his name quietly.

“Jack,” he murmurs, and Jack squeezes his eyes shut as he freezes in place. “I… Jack, I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t,” Jack replies, his voice cracking on the one syllable. “Just,  _don’t_.”

He can’t find the strength to walk from the room. Instead, he turns around and rests his back against the wall opposite Gabe’s cell and sinks to the ground, his knees bending for his elbows to rest on.

Across from him, Gabe drops to his knees in front of Jack and rests his forehead against the bars separating them. Jack has the temptation to slide closer, but he pushes it down as he rubs a hand over his face and wipes away what tears have dropped.

“This is a bitch of a situation,” Gabe mutters, and Jack lets out a huff as he glances at Gabe.

“You can say that again.”

Jack shakes his head before he drops it into his hands and tries to breathe. He can’t walk away now, can’t just leave. He’s committed so far and he might as well see it out, but so far there are no words that are coming to him, and Gabe’s silence is enough to make Jack think he’s not alone in that.

Part of him wants to crawl over the distance between them, push past those bars, and curl into Gabe like he used to. Part of him wants to take comfort that at the very  _least_ , the man he loves is still alive despite the years spent thinking he’d lost him.

But other parts are yelling at him to walk away, to ignore all these feelings, to look at the facts and realise that the Gabe in front of him is not the same Gabe he used to adore.

It takes a while to find the words, but eventually, Jack does crack. He doesn’t move his hands, unable to face looking at Gabe, and his words come out muffled as a result.

“I loved you,” he murmurs, and he hears Gabe’s sharp intake of breath. “I loved you so much that it hurt. I spent all my time  _loving_  you and thinking you could do no wrong, that you were always right no matter how messed up the situation. I put myself on the line for you so many times because all I wanted to do was  _protect_  you from Adawe and Petras.” He shakes his head and lets out a bitter laugh. “I never  _once_  thought that maybe the person I spent so much time protecting would turn out to be the one I needed to protect everyone from.”

Gabe doesn’t respond, and that has Jack’s eyes burning even more until he pushes his palms against them until they  _hurt_. He’s not really expecting a reply, even though he desperately wants one.

“A part of me died with you,” he continues when it’s obvious that Gabe won’t say anything. “The day of the explosion, I thought that maybe we were finally seeing the end of all this  _shit_  that’d been happening to us. We’d lost so many by that stage. Ana, Gerard,  Amélie ,  _ourselves_.” He grits his teeth and squeezes his eyes closed. “But then Adawe and Petras told me that Talon was going to finally be finished, that the end was near and victory was within our grasp.” He looks up and he must be a sight as Gabe flinches. “ _You_  told me that it was almost over, and I  _believed_  you.”

“I had to,” Gabe says, one of his hands rising to wrap around the bar. “Jack, you have to believe me when I say that I had to. I didn’t…” He shakes his head and glances at the floor. “You know that they are part of Talon, you know that.”

“Of course I do,” Jack snaps, his anger rampant. “Who do you think took them down?”

Gabe nods. “I know it was you. But you have to understand that they were  _always_ Talon.” He lets out a shuddering huff. “I had to go along with them, with their plans, because Blackwatch was rotting from the inside out. Talon was seeping in through Overwatch’s belly and there was  _nothing_  any of us could do.”

“Except defect,” Jack mutters, but there’s no venom anymore.

“If it makes a shred of difference,” Gabe pleads, “I never truly defected. I was never really one of them. I did the things I had to, but I never once believed in anything Talon fought for. They’re a crime syndicate and terrorist organisation.” He gestures at Jack with raised eyebrows. “Look how long it’s taken to get to know the inner circle from the outside, Jack? It’s taken you six years. It took me three from the inside.”

“But look what you lost in the process.”

“I was going to lose you anyway,” Gabe points out, and that’s news to Jack who frowns. “Adawe and Petras planned to get rid of you. You were Overwatch’s figurehead, the leader of the idea of a free world. They needed you  _gone_ , but from where I stood beside them I could at least  _try_  to save you.”

“The explosion was your idea,” Jack confirms, and Gabe looks pained as he nods.

“I knew you’d survive, Jack. Your enhancements were enough for you to sustain the brunt of it. I had to give you as much of a chance as I could.” Gabe shrugs. “And it was the only chance you were going to get.”

Jack doesn’t want to believe him, but maybe it’s because if he does then he has to acknowledge that his anger is unfound. Anger that he’s wrapped himself in for six years as he’d watched Reaper crawl through the world and aid Talon this entire time, all while knowing that Reaper is  _Gabe_. It’s an anger that’s helped him and saved him, and letting it go seems near to impossible.

“I loved you too, Jack,” Gabe continues, his voice so imploring that Jack’s heart clenches in his chest. “I still do. I’d give you the world if I could.” He sighs. “And for what it  _is_  worth, I am so goddamn sorry.”

Jack grits his teeth and ignores his burning eyes as he glares at the door leading out of the corridor. He can’t bring himself to look at Gabe, knowing that he might just crack.

“And what?” he asks. “I'm supposed to just forgive you?”

Gabe laughs, and that catches Jack’s attention as he looks over to see Gabe smiling at him. “As if you’d ever make things that simple,” Gabe jokes, and it’s light-hearted enough that Jack can feel his lips twitching into his own small smile. He’s missed this, he can admit. He’s missed Gabe.

“I can’t,” he states bluntly, and Gabe just nods seriously in response. “I can’t just forgive you all of a sudden. From what the team has told me, and you have too, I understand that there was a reason for what you’ve done.” He takes a deep shuddering breath. “But it’s going to take time for me to understand, and I can’t guarantee how long that will be.”

“It’s okay,” Gabe says breathlessly. “I don’t expect anything you can’t give.”

Jack huffs and shakes his head, but he does cave and give Gabe a small smile in return. It clearly blows Gabe away as he blinks at Jack for a long moment before he returns the smile.

Those parts of Jack, that have wanted nothing more than for Jack to close the distance between himself and Gabe, finally win out and he gets to his feet slowly before he crosses towards the bars as Gabe stands himself. He looks confused, not that Jack can blame him, and it’s with a shaky hand that Jack reaches out and places his hand on the biometric lock on the wall beside the cell.

“I can’t trust you yet,” he tells Gabe as the lock turns green and the bars drop into the floor, and Gabe look completely dumbstruck. “But I can start trying, if you’re willing to meet me halfway.”

Gabe stares at him for a long moment before a soft look comes over his face as he takes a hesitant step forward. “Of course, Jack,” he says, his voice incredibly quiet, “anything.”

Jack nods at him as he pulls his hand off the biometric scanner, and he hovers for a moment before he finally caves to his damn feelings and steps forward over the recessed in bars towards Gabe.

And Gabe meets him in the middle, the two of them crashing together in a sudden rush. Jack wraps desperate arms around Gabe’s shoulders and pulls him in close, dropping his face to press in tight against Gabe’s neck. He lets out an involuntary sob, his fingers digging into the thin shirt Gabe’s wearing as he does so, and Gabe lets out a quiet shushing noise as he drops his arms to Jack’s waist and  _clings_  to him.

It’s an intoxicating moment, Jack refusing to let go as he moulds himself completely to Gabe, and he hears Gabe’s hitched breathing in his ear that has Jack wondering if Gabe is falling apart just as much as Jack is.

“I’ve missed you, Gabe,” Jack can’t help but say, the words ripping from him filled with so much  _emotion_ , and he says them against Gabe’s neck with his lips dragging across Gabe’s skin, and Gabe shivers with each word and his arms tighten around Jack’s waist.

“Fucking hell, Jack,” Gabe mumbles in Jack’s ear. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

It’s such a surreal moment, and it almost has Jack laughing as he lets out a breathless few noises, but he refuses to pull away.

He’s not forgiven Gabe, he doesn’t know if he ever will be able too, but right now? At this moment? When all he can feel is Gabe pressed against him and all he can smell is an aching familiar scent, he doesn’t  _care_.

Because time can pass, but Jack will not lose Gabe again,  _never_  again.

 

...

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was just my excuse to finish an unfinished scene from my larger fic, Sink or Swim. I abandoned this to take the fic in another direction, but I loved this scene so much so I finished it as a one-shot!
> 
> The song the title is based on is ["I Don't Want You Back"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rb6gr8wUc8) by AJ Mitchell, and it's one of my top R76 songs! Take a listen and see if you agree!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed xx


End file.
